Honeywell’s Space Team in Aylesbury, England are celebrating the launch
of the VESTA nanosatellite, which the team worked as Mission Prime for
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) on behalf of the UK Space Agency.
This small satellite is a significant achievement for Honeywell’s UK
Space Team and the wider Honeywell Space organization as it demonstrates
solid capabilities in the delivery of rapid-build, cost-efficient
solutions in the smallsat market.

VESTA is a 3U nanosatellite technology demonstration mission that will
test a new two-way VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) payload developed by
Honeywell for the ExactEARTH advanced maritime satellite constellation.

VESTAAbove: Members of the Aylesbury
Space Team pose with VESTA

“While
leading the way in demonstrating small data packet transfer from a small
payload into remote maritime locations beyond our phone networks, this
mission is also leading us into an even broader range of remote
communication scenarios to increase the connectivity of our world.” said
Chris Bee, Business Manager at Honeywell Aerospace in Aylesbury.

Dr Graham Turnock, Chief Executive,
UK Space Agency said: “There are still vast areas of the Earth where
communication remains difficult, none more so than out at sea.Satellites
can bridge this gap, however testing new technology is risky and
expensive. That’s why the UK Space Agency is helping to fund promising
UK technologies like VESTA as part of the government’s Industrial
Strategy, to kick start innovation and growth, while delivering safety
at sea and jobs back home.”

The 4kg satellite has 3-axis pointing
capability, an SEU tolerant on-board computer, VxWorks operating system
and also flies a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) VHF deployable antenna
system developed by SSTL for the VDES transceiver. VESTA will be
operated in orbit by SSTL, with the payload data being downlinked
directly in S-Band to Goonhilly Earth Station.

The development of VESTA was co-funded by the UK Space Agency through
its National Space Technology Programme (NSTP) which stimulates the
growth and development of the UK space sector through investing in
technology development. The project was led by Honeywell.